driving with preschoolers...

[asktriplets]

hi all. we're leaving in less than 2 months (!) with our three almost-3-yr. olds, so i'm trying to get serious about my planning (this will be our 3rd trip this yr, and it is amazing how each trip is SO different while this kids are at this age!---more planning and plotting for me....yippeee!!!! )

....we've got a 16 hr. drive, over 2 days, and i have the "usual" list of car activities (dvd player, magnadoodles, eating meals in the car, crayons,magnets on cookie sheets, mini "lunch" boxes with little cars/dolls inside, snacks, little wrapped presents/$store toys, books, etc), but i'm finding that my kids are ALMOST old enough for "big kid" car games (activity books, word puzzles, i spy/license plate game, etc), but not quite. i'm looking to modify some of the other great suggestions i've seen listed (for older kids) for my preschoolers.

here's what i have so far:

1. play a "we're looking for..." game (like car/travel bingo or the license plate game) where everyone looks for 1 item at a time and all get a "prize" when the item is found. i'm thinking that if it's a common thing, we'll be able to spot an item within 30-60 secs. and keep everyone busy.

items to look for: different color cars, cows, police cars, trailers/campers being pulled.

prize: 1 m&m

2. map searches: everyone gets a wdw map of the same park (we always end up with 15 or 20 extra maps when we come home from our wdw trips!) or our local zoo map (both have pictures for each location) and we take turns picking an attraction we are "going to see". everyone else finds that spot on their map and i ask questions about what is around there, what shape does it look like, etc etc.

(the kids love looking at maps, which in the car is great because even the act of folding and unfolding the maps takes them 10 minutes! i've found that when there are that many little kids in the car for such a long time, every SECOND that they are happily entertained is one less second i don't have to worry about them whining!!)

3. easy disney word search (not sure if my kids are ready for this, but i'm imagining small words, only spelled horizontally, set in a very small square). words like: nemo, belle, lilo,roo (well, that's actually all i can think of). this will take lots of assistance from me ("who sees the letters R-O-O together?" or "who sees a B? is there an E next to it?", etc. but i don't think they'll need me to be sitting next to them)

4. i've also noticed that my kids are more interested in coloring something when it is 1 picture, as opposed to a whole coloring book (too many choices?), so i'm thinking we can color disney pictures (printed out from some of the great links provided here!) and then put those and any word searches or drawings they've done in the car together to make a "book" for themselves (like the activity books that a number of you are putting together for older kids)--my kids are loving glue sticks these days, so while i'm sure it'll be a heck of a mess to have 3 2-yr. olds in the car with glue sticks, it'll take up time, so i'm willing to let them do it!!!

any other ideas?

thanks,

 

[newtowdw1]

Go to Waldens. I don't remember the gender of your triplets, but Waldens has Martha B Rabbit book and CD. They read every word of this book, have robins sing to turn the pages, and beautiful pictures. The last time I was there they had several other beautiful choices, some about flower fairies that I would not have bought if I had only boys. I had my kids share the book...one this story, one that story. They preferred to have the book the entire time and then switch next. This was so successful that I stopped at the Borders outlet and bought more books on tape/CD for the way home.

Once while I was driving DH mentioned that to hear the other side of the Lone Ranger tape (original radio shows) we should turn it over. I snapped, "Do we have to hear it right NOW?" He laughed and laughed. He said that he'd had to drive to Peter Pan (download from iTunes, original voices and music) 167 all over WDW, I could listen to Lone Ranger.

Really, every time Connor and Maura started getting wild, we'd pop in Peter Pan and Connor was mesmerized. They started splitting up the parts to play.
FYI we drove 2500 miles this summer. 80% of the time the kids were GREAT!

 

[asktriplets]

what a great idea!

i'm going to start at our library, and see what they have on book/cds for little ones. thank you!! i get SO tired of reading to them in the car, and i'm guessing this is one of those things that is WAY more entertaining for them than me reading a book.

good to know walden's and border's outlet has some, too...

thanks.

by the way, is your peter pan a recording of the book, or just the music?

 

[momimouse27]

I know this may be kind of an expensive tip, but I'll put it out there anyway. My son, who is 2 1/2, has discovered his big sisters leap pad. She happened to have some Pooh and Thomas Train cartridges and books from when she was younger and now he is captivated by them. I know these things run around $30 and the books are $15 each, but just a thought.

 

[travelitis]

Throwing budget aside, how about a portable DVD player? Ours gets used in the car, in the house, and on a ship. (Navy husband)

 

[D&DDisney]

I took a bunch of window clings (various holidays and characters ) my 3yr old stuck them to the car window and played for hours. Even my 6yr old loved to stick and restick them. It was like the old colorforms playsets.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Benadryl - only kidding. My last three kids are 34 months apart (total) so I know where you are coming from. We fly and still when they were younger used to come with every thing imaginable to keep them occupied for the two hour flight.

 

[asktriplets]

Benadryl - only kidding.

oh, believe me, if it worked for my kids, i wouldn't hesitate to think up a "good" reason for my kids to get a spoonful before we leave...sadly, my kids get a bit wound up when they get benadryl, NOT tired . they also never sleep more than an hour at a time in the car (boohoo), so we can't drive at night.

we have yet to try flying...it's still cheaper and easier for us to drive than fly these days....

thanks for the thoughts!

 

[asktriplets]

Throwing budget aside, how about a portable DVD player? Ours gets used in the car, in the house, and on a ship. (Navy husband)

this is one thing we would NEVER leave without!!

 

[asktriplets]

I know this may be kind of an expensive tip, but I'll put it out there anyway. My son, who is 2 1/2, has discovered his big sisters leap pad. She happened to have some Pooh and Thomas Train cartridges and books from when she was younger and now he is captivated by them. I know these things run around $30 and the books are $15 each, but just a thought.

and your son can play with them "correctly"? i ask this because computer-type toys only interest my kids very briefly because all they can do is push buttons, rather than interact with them (does that make sense?). i haven't even looked at leap pads yet, thinking my kids were too little, but if it'll keep them busy, i wonder if i can find some on ebay?


thanks!

 

[asktriplets]

I took a bunch of window clings (various holidays and characters ) my 3yr old stuck them to the car window and played for hours. Even my 6yr old loved to stick and restick them. It was like the old colorforms playsets.

great idea! when they were little tiny travelers, i hung pictures from the windows for them to look at (in the rear facing seats). window clings are a great idea, just for them to look at, if nothing else---in our van, and with their car seats, i'm not sure the kids can reach the windows, but it's worth a try...thanks!

 

[Amyality]

We won't be driving to Disney from MD - I got amazing airfare $465 for a famly of 4!!! - but, we do travel occasionally to RI or NC and these are my experiences/suggestions...

Travel at night as much as possible. Movies, movies, movies! Did I mention play movies?!?!? Have at least 5 vomit bags easily reachable, if your kid cries suddenly and for no appaent reason, get that bag back there and your blinker on because, the puke is probably coming.

We are also huge fans of book tapes. My boys are 4 and 7. We have listend to so many wonderful storeis, Hariet the Spy, Tom Sawyer, the Harry Potter Books, the Narnia Tales, and sooo many more, we are listening to Lord of the Rings currently. I can not tell you how much we love book tapes.

We need activites that won't aggrivate older brothers car sickness if you are wondering why I have not included "busy" activities. My little guy does not seem to be effected so with him, I have about 3 groups of action figures (one set of Toy Story, 1 set of cars and 1 bunch of Lego Guys) I just rotate the groups and he is fine for a long, long time.

Snacks are a no brainer. Don't just let them have them handy, wait till they are starting to annoy and then whip them out. Don't give them too much liquid unless you want dad freaking out because, you need to make an extra pee pee stop and now you are 15 minutes behind on the mapquest guide!

May the force be with you!!!

 

[Boo Mc]

Our kids always liked blank spiral notebooks - let them pick them out themselves - and tons of stickers. They liked just filling up the empty pages with them or using them to decorate their pictures. My other tip is if you stop for fast food, let them run around while you eat. (Hopefully you'll find a place with a play area). Then when you're done, give everyone a potty break and a good hand washing and let them eat their happy meals in the car. This will keep them occupied for another 20-30 minutes of driving. If you can't trust them with their own drinks, bring sippy cups to put the drinks in. Have fun!

 

[Bangerang]

These are great ideas. I've been looking for some for our upcoming trip. My tip is bubblewrap. First you start at the feet and loosely wrap....just kidding! On the serious side, if your kids are past putting things in their mouth, a 12" sheet of bubble wrap is great. On a recent trip, my DS spent a good bit of time popping bubbles. He would sing "Pop goes the weasel, etc.".

 

[Amyality]

Hmmm... The bubble wrap may be worth trying on our next car trip. I can't see that causing our #1 problem...car sickness. The only flaw I can forsee is getting tired of hearing that "pop". I can just see my husband cramming it in the first trashcan he comes to! It is still worth a try though!

 

[dtsaos]

and your son can play with them "correctly"? i ask this because computer-type toys only interest my kids very briefly because all they can do is push buttons, rather than interact with them (does that make sense?). i haven't even looked at leap pads yet, thinking my kids were too little, but if it'll keep them busy, i wonder if i can find some on ebay?


thanks!

My son started playing educational games on the computer at 2.5 and did so for the most part correctly. Of course they were games geared towards preschoolers. When he turned 4 we bought him a leapster which is a hand held version of the leap frog products. I love it because it kind of looks like a gameboy, but is actually educational. The only downside of the leapsters are that they are pretty expensive and so are the games-anyway it's probably a better thing for when they are slightly older. We're driving in 5 days actually and I'm bringing some of those mess free markers with the "magic" paper, but most importantly we're bring a ton of dvd's to watch Hopefully the movies will save DH and me from going insane!Our kids are a little on the wild side and if we bring too many "little" things for them to play with eventually it will end up all over the van.

Please wish us luck and we'll do the same for you!

 

[Amyality]

My son started playing educational games on the computer at 2.5 and did so for the most part correctly. Of course they were games geared towards preschoolers. When he turned 4 we bought him a leapster which is a hand held version of the leap frog products. I love it because it kind of looks like a gameboy, but is actually educational. The only downside of the leapsters are that they are pretty expensive and so are the games-anyway it's probably a better thing for when they are slightly older. We're driving in 5 days actually and I'm bringing some of those mess free markers with the "magic" paper, but most importantly we're bring a ton of dvd's to watch Hopefully the movies will save DH and me from going insane!Our kids are a little on the wild side and if we bring too many "little" things for them to play with eventually it will end up all over the van.

Please wish us luck and we'll do the same for you!

I promise you will have many little things all over the van when you get where you are going regardless! Seriously, those markers are wonderful. I'm a mom of two boys and I know "wild"! I am so with you~

 

[dtsaos]

I promise you will have many little things all over the van when you get where you are going regardless! Seriously, those markers are wonderful. I'm a mom of two boys and I know "wild"! I am so with you~

You're right I'm sure-who am i kidding!

 

[Bangerang]

We used the smaller bubbles. They didn't have so big of a pop and because there are more of them they last longer. As my DH said, "it's better than the rain stick"

 

[asktriplets]

We won't be driving to Disney from MD - I got amazing airfare $465 for a famly of 4!!! -

Snacks are a no brainer. Don't just let them have them handy, wait till they are starting to annoy and then whip them out. Don't give them too much liquid unless you want dad freaking out because, you need to make an extra pee pee stop and now you are 15 minutes behind on the mapquest guide!

May the force be with you!!!

yahoo on the airfare!!!

if everyone here PROMISES to be nice to me , i'll let you in on a little secret....shhhh.....this trip is EXACTLY why i have no plans to potty train the kids for the next few months!!!! i can not even IMAGINE how tough a 16 hr.+ trip would be with 3 newly-potty trained kids---- ...on a related note, the kids and i have been talking about the fact that as soon as we get home from "mickey's castle", they will be big kids and won't use diapers anymore (going to try going cold turkey). i've been telling the kids that they can tell cinderella and ariel all about how they'kll be "big kids" when they go home...bet the princesses will love me for encouraging THAT conversation! hehehe.

thanks for the thoughts!